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LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 

@§Hp V. Sopijrig^t I^u. 

1^9^ 

UNITED STATES OF AMERICA, i 




I dreanied a drecn|. I sailed a Eqystic sec 



DReAM Loves. 



H. T. ECKERT, 

SUNBURV, PA. 



ILLUSTRATED. 



WiLLIAMSPORT. Pa. : 

Grit Publishing- Co., Book and Job Printers. 

1894. 



-K. 






Copyrighted, 1894, by 
H. T. KCKERT. 



TO THE PUBLIC. 



In placing this volume before 3-011 I am aware of the 
prejudice against all unknown writers, and especially 
verse writers. Critics glibly ask, "Who stuffed that 
white owl ? ' ' 

The barber keeps on shaving, and the poetic taxi- 
dermist keeps on stuffing, and the good-natured public 
has to endure barber, poet, "white owl" and "critic," 
accepting evils they know, rather than fl}- to those they 
know not of. 

If in " Dream Loves" a line or a word causes the 
heart to throb kindly for the joys, or the eye to dim for 
the misfortunes of others, its mission is fulfilled, and 
the author is well repaid for his effort. 

I dedicate these verses to the memor}- of My Mother, 
with a love that the barriers of the grave and long years 
have never dimmed. 

H. T. KCKERT. 



DREAM LOVES. 



T DREAAIED a dream. I sailed a mystic 
i sea, 

O'er waters clear as crystal well could be, 

W^itli white-shelled bottom, gem-like strewn 
among 

Bright coral branches, over which I hung. 



I floated on, by spic\' zephyrs fanned. 
Drifting in sweet abandon far from land ; 
The receding shores behind in beaut\' spread. 
And blue ethereal heavens stretched overhead. 



DREAM LOVES. 



Soft murmuring music rippled 'round the 
prow ; 

The balmy breezes kissed my grateful brow, 

A blissful languor o'er ni}'- senses crept, 

And as I dreamed, in dreams I slept. 

Out, out I drifted on this unknown sea, 

Dancing on silver-mirrored waters free. 

Into a world of beaut}' ; wide and wider grew 

This realm, while shores receded from my 
view. 

Bright golden days and nights of silver sheen ; 

Blue heavens above — beneath unfathomed 
green ; 

No thought of care, no trouble crossed my 
breast ; 

Aly bark danced onward to the fabled west. 




Bo^ft^ers of beauty, girt \s)itl~i golderi saqd. 



DREAM LOVES, 



The beauteous day sunk into evening's arms, 
Blending soft twilight with its fading charms. 
' Twas but a span from close to peep of day, 
When in the east night's curtains fell away. 



Day dawned, bright da\^, then faded as it came ; 

Morn streaked with gold, eve dyed with crim- 
son flame ; 

Day followed evening, evening followed dawn ; 

Bliss followed languor — still I drifted on. 



Now on the horizon slow tracing into blue, 
Out of the silver waters faintly grew 
Bowers of beauty, girt with golden sand, 
Leagues to the west a goodly favored land. 



DREAM LOVES. 



At dawn, before me in a shimmering liaze; 
At noon, entranced, I rest my raptnred gaze 
On sea-girt shores enframed by silver spra}', 
And crowned b}' beaut}^ of a perfect day. 

And drifting land-ward, idly drifting o'er 

Shell-tinted dancing waves, I reach the shore. 

Cleaving the feathery' snrf that ' ronnd me 
swept 

In mist}' foam, in dreams again I slept. 



I dreamed I 'woke within a S3dvan glade, 

And hovering near me was a winsome maid. 

Fair as th' morning modestl}^ she stood, 

Shame-faced, bright-haired — a creature of the 
wood. 



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Stiarqe-faced, brigl"it-l^aired — a crearure of thie wood." 



DREAM LOVES. 



Entranced I gazed. She bowed her regal 
head. 

To speak I then essayed — m^^ speech had fled. 

With master hand she waked the silent 
strings, 

As bending o'er her Inte she sweetly sings : 

SONG. 

''Thou'rt welcome, sweet yonth, to my isle in 
the sea, 

Where storms never beat on the shore, 

And the mocking-bird sings in the wild orange 
tree ; 

Oh, stay with me ! stay evermore. 

^' Where grapes clnster ripe and the pome- 
granate grows ; 

Where m3'rtle and iv}' entwine 

Their branches, and cling to the wild crimson 
rose ; 

Oh, sta}^ in this bower of mine 1 



lo DREAM LOVES. 



"I'll sing when the moon gilds the crest of 
the sea ; 

With th' nightingale sweetly I'll sing. 

Oh, come to my bower, sweet youth, come with 
me, 

Where time flies on gold-tinted wing. 

"No care shall pursue thee nor sorrow e'er 
fall, 

No cloud dim the light of the day ; 

Love's soft silken fetters thy soul shall en- 
thrall ; 

Oh, sta}^ with me! sta}^, ever stay!" 

* si: ::: :j; * :=; :j: * 

Her welcome o'er, she lead ; I followed on. 
One lingering look I cast — my bark was gone ; 
Riding the silvery waves it idl}^ danced. 
On, on I followed, on I went entranced. 



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We readied a wooded parK wr^ere rqild-eyed deer 
gazed iri rqute wor,der." 



DREAM LOVES. n 



The murmuring sea was lost upon my ear; 

We reached a wooded park, where mild-eyed 
deer 

Gazed in mute wonder, came, returned and 
stood, 

Antlered and strong, between us and the wood. 



Delicious perfume crimson rose distilled, 

And songs of tropic birds my senses filled; 

But neither song of bird nor balmy air 

Could with the maiden's breath or song 
compare. 

We wandered hand in hand by laughing rill, 

And gatherM berries red beside the hill ; 

From milk-white blossoms, twined with myrtle 
green, 

I wove a coronet, and crowned my queen. 



12 DREAM LOVES. 



Da3^s passed unheeded — gliding golden da3's, 
Followed b\^ nights illumed b}^ silver rays ; 
We quaffed the cr3'stal cool from Nature's rills 
And gathered purple grapes among the hills. 

No care we knew ; the hours sped on apace, 

With rainbow tints, and crowned with rainbow 

grace. 
At noon in bower, at eve on velvet lawn, 
Bird-like we sported as the days drave on. 



Da3''s, months, and fleeting \'ears dissolved in 
time, 

And we lived on, our lives a measured rhyme 
That knew no discord — like the rill that sung 
A silver}' song its flower-decked banks among. 



DREAM LOVES. 13 

Often, when light was fading o'er the sea, 

And lengthening shades stretched o'er the 
emerald lea. 

There, at her feet, in langnid bliss, I lay 

Listening to songs that charmed the honrs 
away. 

SONG. 

"When o'er the moon-lit sea, 

Stretching away, 

Rides the fair silver queen, 

Chasing the day 

Into the shades of night, 

Casting a mellow light 

Over the bay, — 



14 DREAM LOVES. 

"Here, b}^ ni}' side, recline; 

Here is thy home ; 

I will be ever thine — 

Never more roam. 

Stay in this peacefnl vale. 

Where sorrows ne'er assail 

Nor troubles come." 



And thus she touched the lute and sweetly 
sang to me, 

Beneath a moon-lit sk\', beside a moon-lit sea ; 

While resting at her feet, bathing in Cynthia's 
beams, 

I drifted into chaos — drifted into dreams. 

♦ ♦ ♦ iji :i^ rj: A :^ 




" I VoKe bequnqbed ; tlqe ideal life Y\ad ct]aqged. 



DREAM LOVES. 15 



I 'woke benumbed ; the ideal life had changed. 

Beside an angry sea was cliff on cliff arrang'd, 

And shrieking gulls, with noisy, flapping 
wings, 

Above ; around me, nameless, horrid things. 

My dream was o'er; around me closed the 
night ; 

The leaden day had fled, and with it fled the 
light. 

Alone I wandered on a rock\' shore — 

Alone I listened to the breakers roar. 



'Tis thus in life. When young we sail a sea 

Of cr\^stal, calm as summer, ever free; 

But age comes on, — our dream of bliss is 



And on th' barren shore we end our days 
alone ! 



m 



